Systems and methods for sorting alert and offer messages on a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A method and system are presented for sorting alert and offer messages on a mobile device. One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method including receiving alert messages at a mobile device where each alert message contains transaction data associated with a transaction conducted with a merchant. Upon receiving the alert messages, the mobile device receives alert message sorting criteria from a user associated with the mobile device, sorts the alert messages according to the received offer sorting criteria, and displays the sorted alert messages.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/565,627, filed Sep. 23, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/100,205, filed Sep. 25, 2008, the entirecontents of which are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Transaction alert and offer messages that are sent to a mobile deviceare displayed on the mobile device according to the date they were sentto or received by the mobile device. As the mobile device receives moreand more of such transaction alert and offer messages, a consumer'smobile device can be filled with such transaction alert and offermessages making it very difficult for the consumer to manage them. Inthe case of offers, the sheer numbers of offers received at a mobiledevice may cause the consumer to potentially miss using a relevant offerbefore the expiration date of the offer. In the case of transactionalerts, the sheer number of alerts messages received may cause theconsumer to delete such alert messages as they come in. The consumer mayconsequently be unable to keep track of such alert messages for laterrecordkeeping.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other problemsindividually and collectively.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention are directed to alert and offer sortingsystems and methods. In particular, a method for sorting alert and offermessages on a mobile device according to sorting criteria from aconsumer associated with the mobile device.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a mobile device having aprocessor, a display coupled to the processor, and a computer readablemedium coupled to the processor, where the processor is configured toexecute a set of instructions stored on the storage medium to enable theprocessor to perform the actions of: receiving alert messages where eachalert message contains transaction data associated with a transactionconducted with a merchant, upon receiving the alert messages, receivingalert message sorting criteria from a user associated with the mobiledevice, sorting the alert messages according to the received alertsorting criteria, and displaying the sorted alert messages using thedisplay.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method comprisingreceiving alert messages on a mobile device where each alert messagecontains transaction data associated with a transaction conducted with amerchant. Upon receiving the alert messages, the method continues inreceiving alert message sorting criteria from a user associated with themobile device, sorting the alert messages according to the receivedoffer sorting criteria, and displaying the sorted alert messages.

In a specific example, multiple alert messages associated withtransactions conducted with various merchants (e.g., Stores 1-30) forvarious amounts (ranging from 1 USD to 500 USD) are sent to a mobilephone operated by a consumer over the course of one month. These alertmessages are displayed on the mobile phone according to the dates thealerts were sent to the mobile phone. The consumer decides he wants tobe more conscious about his spending habits and wants to identify, onhis mobile phone, all transactions involving purchases of more than 200USD made within the past month. By identifying such purchases, theconsumer feels that he can decide whether such transactions werenecessary. The conventional display of alert messages would require theconsumer to scroll through these messages (on his mobile phone) andindividually identify those transactions that fit his criteria. However,if this mobile phone were to contain an option to sort the alertmessages according to criteria such as transaction amount, the consumercould simply set his criteria to display all alert messages that involvetransactions over 200 USD and such messages would be displayed. Thiswould save the consumer time by quickly giving the consumer access tothose alert messages that are of interest to him.

Other embodiments of the invention are described in further detailbelow. Other embodiments of the invention may relate to specific typesof alerts and/or offers and the functionality corresponding to suchalerts and offers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a payment processing system according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile device according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a payment processing network according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps in a method according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a screen shot on a mobile phone display for viewing alertor offer messages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 6-7 show screen shots on a mobile phone display illustrating alertmessages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 8-9 show screen shots on a mobile phone display for sorting alertmessages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 shows a screen shot on a mobile phone display for viewing offermessages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 shows a screen shot on a mobile phone display for sorting offermessages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 12-13 show screen shots on a mobile phone display illustratingoffer messages according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 shows components in a computer apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of displaying, ona mobile device, sorted alert and offer messages according to sortingcriteria from a user associated with the mobile device.

The mobile device receives alert messages that contain transaction dataassociated with a transaction conducted with a merchant. Alert messagesare notifications containing transaction data that are sent to a mobiledevice to help a consumer manage and track transactions. These alertmessages may be near-real-time notifications and may include variousinformation such as transaction type (e.g., general/standard payment,mail-order telephone-order, cross-border), transaction amount, date andtime the transaction occurred, location, city and state in which thetransaction occurred, merchant name and location (if available), issuer(by name, personal access number and/or issuer-defined footer),information about how to contact the issuer (e.g., phone number,online/mobile website, which is actionable via launching a browser orthe like upon selecting/touching such information), issuer logo,information on how to contact service administrator, currency code,currency symbol, alphanumeric code, and bar code.

In embodiments of the invention, the user typically downloads andinstalls a payment application on the mobile device, enrolls in aservice, and registers the mobile device to view and receivenotification (alert and offer) messages. The user may thereafter launchthe application to view and receive the notification messages and suchmessages are sent by any suitable entity in any suitable manner.

The mobile device receives alert message sorting criteria from a userassociated with the mobile device. The user of the mobile device has theoption of selecting criteria which he wishes the alert messages to besorted by. The mobile device may offer the user a drop down menu ofdifferent categories to sort the alert messages by.

Using instructions on a computer readable medium, a processor in themobile device sorts the alert messages according to the receivedcriteria from the user associated with the mobile device. The alertmessages may be sorted by any number of ways such as transaction type(e.g., general/standard payment, mail-order telephone-order,cross-border), transaction amount, issuer, type of card, and the datethe alert messages were received by the mobile device.

After the processor sorts the alert messages, instructions on thecomputer readable medium in the mobile device causes a processor todisplay the sorted messages.

The systems and methods as described herein may be used in the contextof payment transactions using payment processing systems, which areconfigured to process credit and debit card transactions. Further,embodiments of the invention are directed to the use of mobile devices,and methods and systems that use them. The mobile device may be used inpayment processing systems as shown in FIG. 1.

I. Systems and Methods for Sorting Alert and Offer Messages on a MobileDevice

FIG. 1 is a system 20 that may be used in an embodiment of theinvention. For simplicity of illustration, one merchant, one issuer, oneacquirer, one portable consumer device, one mobile device, and oneconsumer are shown. It is understood, however, that embodiments of theinvention may include multiple merchants, issuers, acquirers, portableconsumer devices, mobile devices, and/or consumers. In addition, someembodiments of the invention may include fewer than all of thecomponents shown in FIG. 1. Also, the components in FIG. 1 maycommunicate via any suitable communication medium (including theInternet), using any suitable communication protocol.

The system 20 includes a merchant 22 and an acquirer 24 associated withthe merchant 22. In a typical payment transaction, a consumer 30 maypurchase goods or services at the merchant 22 using a portable consumerdevice 32, such as a credit card. The payment transaction may occur atone or more transaction locations involving merchant 22, portableconsumer device 32, and consumer 30. The acquirer 24 can communicatewith an issuer 28 via a payment processing network 26, which providesthe acquirer 24 with a transaction authorization response. The paymentprocessing network 26 can also communicate with a mobile device 36 via anotification module 27, which provides near real-time transactionnotifications.

The acquirer 24 is typically a bank that has a merchant account. Theissuer 28 may also be a bank, but could also be a business entity suchas a retail store. Some entities are both acquirers and issuers, andembodiments of the invention include such entities. The issuer 28 mayoperate a server computer 21, which may have a computer readable mediumcomprising code for performing the functions that the issuer 28performs. A database 23 comprising account number information and otherinformation may be operatively coupled to the server computer 21.

The consumer 30 may be an individual, or an organization such as abusiness that is capable of purchasing goods or services. In oneembodiment, consumer 30 may be one or more individuals who areauthorized to use portable consumer device 32.

The portable consumer device 32 may be in any suitable form. Forexample, suitable portable consumer devices can be hand-held and compactso that they can fit into a consumer's wallet and/or pocket (e.g.,pocket-sized). They may include smart cards, ordinary credit or debitcards (with a magnetic strip and without a microprocessor), keychaindevices (such as the Speedpass™ commercially available from Exxon-MobilCorp.), etc. Other examples of portable consumer devices includecellular or mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers,payment cards, security cards, access cards, smart media, transponders,and the like. The portable consumer devices can also be debit devices(e.g., a debit card), credit devices (e.g., a credit card), or storedvalue devices (e.g., a stored value card). In FIG. 1, the portableconsumer device 32 and the mobile device 36 are separate devices.However, in another embodiment of the invention, portable consumerdevice 32 is mobile device 36.

The portable consumer device 32 may comprise a computer readable medium(CRM) 32(a) and a body 32(b). The computer readable medium 32(a) may beon the body 32(b). The body 32(b) may be in the form a plasticsubstrate, housing, or other structure. The computer readable medium32(a) may be a memory that stores data and may be in any suitable form.Exemplary computer readable media 32(a) may be in any suitable formincluding a magnetic stripe, a memory chip, etc. If the portableconsumer device 32 is in the form of a card, it may have an embossedregion 32(a) which is embossed with a PAN (primary account number).

The payment processing network 26 may include data processingsubsystems, networks, and operations used to support and deliverauthorization services, exception file services, and clearing andsettlement services. An exemplary payment processing network may includeVisaNet™. Payment processing networks such as VisaNet™ are able toprocess credit card transactions, debit card transactions, and othertypes of commercial transactions. VisaNet™, in particular, includes aVIP system (Visa Integrated Payments system) which processesauthorization requests and a Base II system which performs clearing andsettlement services.

The payment processing network 26 may include a server computer. A“server computer” or “server” is typically a powerful computer orcluster of computers. For example, the server computer can be a largemainframe, a minicomputer cluster, or a group of servers functioning asa unit. In one example, the server computer may be a database servercoupled to a Web server. The payment processing network 26 may use anysuitable wired or wireless network, including the Internet.

The merchant 22 may also have, or may receive communications from, anaccess device 34 that can interact with the portable consumer device 32.In FIG. 1, the access device 34 is located at the merchant 22. However,it could be located at any other suitable location in other embodimentsof the invention.

The access devices according to embodiments of the invention may be inany suitable form. Examples of access devices include point of sale(POS) devices, cellular or mobile phones, PDAs, personal computers(PCs), tablet PCs, handheld specialized readers, set-top boxes,electronic cash registers (ECRs), automated teller machines (ATMs),virtual cash registers (VCRs), kiosks, security systems, access systems,and the like.

If the access device 34 is a point of sale terminal, any suitable pointof sale terminal may include a reader 34(a), a processor 34(b) and acomputer readable medium 34(c). The reader 34(a) may include anysuitable contact or contactless mode of operation. For example,exemplary card readers can include RF (radio frequency) antennas,magnetic stripe readers, etc. to interact with the portable consumerdevice 32.

System 20 also includes notification module 27 for processingnotifications. Notification module 27 may include various subsystemswhich enroll one or more consumers, such as consumer 30, into a programfor receiving transaction notifications and which generatenotifications. Notifications also may be generated in payment processingnetwork 26. Notification module 27 is communicatively coupled to paymentprocessing network 26 and an aggregator 37.

Aggregator 37 collects and forwards notifications from notificationmodule 27 to mobile device 36. Aggregator 37 may be an entity ororganization that receives and transmits messages to a phone, emailaccount, etc. In some cases, wireless telephone companies may beconsidered aggregators.

Mobile device 36 refers to any suitable device for receivingnotifications and for providing the notifications to consumer 30.Notifications refer to communications of information relating to atransaction to consumer 30 on a display of mobile device 36. As usedherein, a notification includes an alert or offer message. An alertmessage is in the form of textual information about a transaction. Anoffer message is also in the form of textual information, and istypically based on transactions made by consumer with various merchants.

Notifications may be in any suitable form and may be delivered by anysuitable method. Some examples of notifications include a short messageservice (SMS) message, e.g., a text message, an alert message, an offermessage, an instant messaging (IM) message, an email message, or aperiodically updated display on a device. An exemplary embodiment of anotification is a near real-time credit card charge. The near real-timecredit card charge is a communication that is used to notify consumer 30of a charge associated with a credit card for a transaction. Anothersuch embodiment of a notification is a notification based on transactiondata generated in response to a transaction by consumer 30 conductedwith merchant 22.

Mobile device 36 may be in any suitable form. For example, suitablemobile devices 36 can be hand-held and compact so that they can fit intoa consumer's wallet and/or pocket (e.g., pocket-sized). Some examples ofmobile device 36 include mobile phones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), and the like. In one embodiment of the invention, mobile device36 is portable consumer device 32.

In a typical purchase transaction, the consumer 30 purchases a good orservice at the merchant 22 using a portable consumer device 32 such as acredit card. The consumer's portable consumer device 32 can interactwith an access device 34 such as a POS (point of sale) terminal at themerchant 22. For example, the consumer 30 may swipe a credit cardthrough an appropriate slot in the POS terminal. Alternatively, the POSterminal may be a contactless reader, and the portable consumer device32 may be a contactless device such as a contactless card.

An authorization request message is then forwarded to the acquirer 24.After receiving the authorization request message, the authorizationrequest message is then sent to the payment processing network 26. Thepayment processing network 26 then forwards the authorization requestmessage to the issuer 28 of the portable consumer device 32.

After the issuer 28 receives the authorization request message, theissuer 28 sends an authorization response message back to the paymentprocessing network 26 to indicate whether or not the current transactionis authorized. The payment processing network 26 then forwards theauthorization response message back to the acquirer 24. The acquirer 24then sends the response message back to the merchant 22.

After the merchant 22 receives the authorization response message, theaccess device 34 at the merchant 22 may then provide the authorizationresponse message for the consumer 30. The response message may bedisplayed by the access device 34 or the portable consumer device 32, ormay be printed out on a receipt.

At the end of the day, a normal clearing and settlement process can beconducted by the payment processing network 26. A clearing process is aprocess of exchanging financial details between an acquirer and anissuer to facilitate posting to a consumer's account and reconciliationof the consumer's settlement position.

In one embodiment, notification module 27 may be triggered by paymentprocessing network 26 to send a notification upon the detection of anotification event. In some embodiments, the notification module 27 maybe embodied by a notification server computer. Payment processingnetwork 26 may monitor and detect the notification event at any timeafter receiving the authorization request message, such as, for example,upon receiving the authorization request message or upon receiving theauthorization response message.

Notification events may have any suitable characteristics. In somecases, a notification message (notification) may be triggered by theinitiation or completion of a transaction on an account associated withportable consumer device 32. In another example, notifications aretriggered by a transaction, such as a transaction initiated by consumer30 or other suitable entity. For example, a notification may betriggered by using portable consumer device 32 at access device 34 byconsumer 30 or by merchant 22 to conduct a transaction. Other examplesof notification events based on transactions include the following: atransaction is over a certain amount of money (e.g. over 5000 USD); anytransaction conducted with a particular portable consumer device; aspending threshold (e.g., a daily or monthly spending limit) has beenreached for a particular portable consumer device; a transaction is madeoutside a particular geographic location (e.g., outside the country thatthe consumer resides in, outside a vicinity of the consumer's presentlocation as determined by a geo-location of a device associated with theconsumer, etc.); a risky transaction is being conducted (“risky” may bepredefined by the consumer and/or the issuer), a transaction is madewithout the physical portable consumer device (e.g., Internet, mail, ortelephone order); a cash transaction or withdrawal; an online accounthas been accessed to initiate a purchase transaction; a child or spousehas conducted a transaction; a balance on the portable consumer deviceis exceeded; a particular type of transaction is being conducted (e.g.,purchases for airline tickets, lodging, auto rental, restaurants,medical, etc.), etc. Thus, embodiments of the invention are flexibleenough to allow for many types of notification events.

Notification module 27 receives trigger information, which may includedetails of the transaction associated with the notification event and/ordetails of the notification event. Notification module 27 determineswhether consumer 30 should be notified about the notification event, andgenerates and sends a notification to consumer 30 via aggregator 37 andmobile device 36.

Some of the embodiments described below may use a payment processingsystem like the one described above, or any suitable combination ofcomponents in the payment processing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile device 12. In oneembodiment, mobile device 36 in FIG. 1 can have the same features asmobile device 12 in FIG. 2. In an alternative embodiment, mobile device12 can have the same features as portable consumer device 32. Mobiledevice 12 can be used to receive alert and offer messages, and conductpayment transactions. A mobile device 12 that is capable of conductingpayment transactions and receive alerts and offers is shown in FIG. 2.

Mobile device 12 further includes a contactless element 13, typicallyimplemented in the form of a semiconductor chip 13(a) (or other datastorage element) with an associated wireless data transfer (e.g., datatransmission) element 13(b), such as an antenna. Contactless element 13is associated with (e.g., embedded within) mobile device 12 and datasuch as a targeted offer or control instructions transmitted viacellular network may be applied to contactless element 13 by means ofcontactless element interface 18. Contactless element interface 18functions to permit the exchange of data and/or control instructionsbetween the mobile device circuitry 19 (and hence the cellular network)and contactless element 13.

Mobile device 12 may also include a secure data space 11, which may beused by the device to store operating parameters and/or other datautilized in operation of the device. The secure data space 11 may be inthe form of a chip that is separate and apart from the chip in thecontactless element 13, or alternatively, could be a section of memoryin the chip that forms part of the contactless element 13. Note that thechip in the contactless element 13 may include data storage capabilityin the form of a memory that may be accessed via interface 18 to permitthe implementation of read, write, and erase functions, for example.

In accordance with still other embodiments, the mobile device mayfurther include a processor 15 and computer readable storage medium 16for storing code modules and configured to direct the processor toperform various tasks. For example, the computer readable storage mediummay comprise a magnetic disk drive or a flash memory chip.

As discussed below, the computer readable storage medium may containcode modules that are configured to cause a processor of the mobiledevice to receive and recognize a message including a notification. Thecomputer readable storage medium may also contain code modules thatcause a processor to receive sorting criteria from a consumer and sortreceived notifications according to such criteria. For example, settingsmodule 37 may enable consumer 30 to enroll in a service to receivenotifications and select criteria that consumer 30 wishes for thenotifications to be sorted by. The alert/offer sorting module 38 maycause the processor 15 to receive the sorting criteria from consumer 30,sort the notifications according to criteria from consumer 30, anddisplay the sorted notifications. The computer readable storage mediummay also include a code module that is configured to decrypt anencrypted notification including the code that is received by the mobiledevice. Any of the above modules may be embodied by computer code storedon a computer readable medium, where the computer code is executable bya processor.

Contactless element 13 is capable of transferring and receiving datausing a near field communications capability (or near fieldcommunications medium) typically in accordance with a standardizedprotocol or data transfer mechanism (identified as ISO 14443/NFC in thefigure). Near field communications capability is a short-rangecommunications capability, such as RFID, Bluetooth™, infra-red, or otherdata transfer capability that can be used to exchange data between themobile device 12 and a local apparatus, for example located at apoint-of-sale of a merchant or another location at which targeted offersare expected to be redeemed. Thus, mobile device 12 is capable ofcommunicating and transferring data and/or control instructions via bothcellular network and near field communications capability.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the mobile device furtherincludes a Global Positioning System (GPS) element 17. GPS element 17 isconfigured to allow determination of the location of the user at anytime. In particular, GPS element 17 relies upon signals from a pluralityof orbiting satellites in order to allow the user's location to bedetermined. Location information obtained from the GPS element 17 may inturn be communicated through the antenna to allow monitoring of theuser's position.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating some components in a paymentprocessing system network 26 according to an embodiment of theinvention. The payment processing network 26 may include a servercomputer 26(a), and a database 26(b) operatively coupled to the servercomputer 26(a). A server computer is typically a powerful computer orcluster of computers. For example, the server computer can be a largemainframe, a minicomputer cluster, or a group of servers functioning asa unit. In one example, the server computer may be a database servercoupled to a Web server. The payment processing network 26 may use anysuitable wired or wireless network, including the Internet.

The server computer 26(a) in the payment processing network 26 maycomprise code modules for triggering and storing a notification messagebased on a transaction involving consumer 30 on an account associatedwith portable consumer device 32 or other suitable entity.

The database 26(b) may store any suitable type of information such astransaction criteria that trigger notifications and merchantidentifiers.

The server computer 26(a) may also comprise a host site (e.g., a Website) 26(a)-1, and a number of functional modules. The functionalmodules may comprise a notification module 26(a)-2, an update module26(a)-3, an offer module 26(a)-4, and a payment processing module26(a)-5. Each of these modules may comprise any suitable combination ofhardware and/or software to accomplish the functions described herein.

The Web site 26(a)-1 may be used by a consumer 30 to enroll or provideother information needed to facilitate the functions described in thisapplication.

The notification module 26(a)-2 may be configured to send transactionnotification messages in the form of SMS messages, e-mails and the liketo the mobile device via a telecommunications network or the Internet.

The update module 26(a)-3 may be configured to process updatedinformation from the consumer 30 such as updated transaction thresholds,updated offer preferences, and the like.

The offer module 26(a)-4 is configured to provide offers (e.g., coupons)and store the offers in a database 26(b) until sent or requested. Forexample, it may provide an offer for a merchant 22. Since multiplemerchants can have offers stored in the database 26(b), the offers canhave common formats or data elements so that they can be easily sortedwhen they are sent to and received by the mobile device 36. The offermodule 26(a)-4 may work with the notification module to send the offerto portable consumer device 32 and/or mobile device 36. Alternatively oradditionally, it may generate offers independent of any updates providedby the consumer 30. The offers may be stored in the offer module 26(a)-4until sent to (automatically) and/or requested by consumer 30.

In some embodiments, the offer module 26(a)-4 may also containuser-defined offer filtering criteria so that only offers of interest tothe consumer 30 are sent to the consumer 30. For example, if theconsumer 30 only wants to receive offers from specific merchants A, B,and C, then the consumer 30 can specify this using the host site26(a)-1. As a result, only offers from merchants A, B, and C, would besent to the user's mobile device 36.

In embodiments of the invention, any suitable offer filter criteria maybe provided to the server 26(a) via the host site 26(a)-1. For example,offers may be filtered at the server 26(a) by any suitable combinationof a specific merchant, a merchant type, a dollar amount, an expirationdate, a geographic location, etc.

The payment processing module 26(a)-5 may comprise appropriate logic toprocess electronic payments. For example, the payment processing module26(a)-5 may include an authorization sub-module for receiving andpassing authorization request messages to appropriate issuers forapproval. It may also include a clearing and settlement sub-module forclearing and settling transactions between different issuers andacquirers.

II. Infrastructure for Sorting Alert and Offer Messages on a MobileDevice

Methods according to embodiments of the invention may be described withreference to FIGS. 1-13. Although specific sequences of steps aredescribed, it is understood that embodiments of the invention are notlimited to the order of the specific steps described, and that anysuitable combination of steps may be included in embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps in a method according to anembodiment of the invention. In step 200, the consumer 30 may enroll ina service to receive alert and offer messages (notifications). Consumer30 may enroll to receive alert and offer messages or update existingmessages for transactions made with portable consumer device 32 in anynumber of ways. For example, consumer 30 can register via a separatewebsite designed for this purpose, via an application on portableconsumer device 32 or mobile device 36, or manually through a paper form(which may be considered a registration interface). Issuer 28 or paymentprocessing network 26 may also enroll consumer 30 automatically foralert and offer messages.

Consumer 30 may be required to enter various types of information uponenrollment (which may be edited at any time) such as his name, mobilephone number, personal access number, billing address (includingcountry), user name, password, (pre-defined) password security question,merchant category preferences, specific merchant preferences, geographiclocation preferences, and geographic location defaults. Consumer 30 maybe required to enter his password twice when setting the password andmay have the option of changing the password at a later time. Thispassword may be masked visually when entered. Consumer's 30 informationmay be validated by the website or application managing thenotifications and synchronized in near-real time. Consumer 30 may havethe option to un-enroll and re-enroll in the service to receive alertand offer messages but may have to wait a certain time period afterenrollment to do so. Multiple consumers desiring to receive alert andoffer messages on the same mobile device 36 may be required to enterdifferent user names, but may share the same personal access number.Consumer 30 may be shown a list of issuers upon enrollment and may beimmediately sent offers.

Enrollment information may include details of notification events thatdescribe the conditions that must take place to trigger notificationsand other account information. Upon enrollment to receive notifications,consumer 30 may have the option of selecting which types of transactionswill trigger notifications that he will receive. In regards toenrollment to receive offer messages, consumer 30 may select uponenrollment from user preferences such as types of merchants to receiveoffers from, geographic preference for receiving offers (based on cityand/or one or more zip codes), number of offers received (by merchantper day or week), number of offers stored in mobile device 36, status ofoffer (active or expired), choice to receive an alert flag when newoffers are received by mobile device 36, and the option to receive analert when offers are set to expire within a configurable amount of time(1 day, 1 week, etc.). Further, consumer 30 may be able to select from amaster list of all participating merchants and the enrollment servicemay provide a filtered list of the merchants (with the option ofdisplaying inactive merchants). In alternative embodiments, thenotification events are predetermined by the system, for example, suchthat consumer 30 can enroll by opting into the notification program withminimal input. The enrollment data entered by consumer 30 may beavailable for later reporting to multiple groups such as merchants andissuers participating in the service, and various serviceadministrators. Further, the service administrator or issuer 28 may sendconsumer 30 information such as upgrades/downgrades regarding optionsthat consumer 30 may have chosen.

Enrollment information is typically received, for example, via a webinterface using a computer, or from issuer 28 and may be stored in adatabase. Enrollment information may be provided to a system which willbe detecting the notification event so that the system knows what eventsto monitor before a notification is sent to consumer 30. The enrollmentinformation may be provided on demand (e.g., when consumer 30 makes achange), periodically (e.g., hourly, daily, etc.), or an individualrequest basis, and using a push or pull scheme. In one embodiment, thesystem detecting the notification event is payment processing network26. In another embodiment, the system detecting the notification eventis issuer 28.

Referring to FIG. 4, in steps 210 and 220, consumer 30 may enter alertand offer sorting criteria. Before entering alert and offer sortingcriteria, consumer 30 may have the option of viewing unsorted alerts andoffers. In a typical transaction, consumer 30 may use portable consumerdevice 32 to make a purchase via a payment processing network 26. Forexample, consumer 30 may use a portable consumer device, such as acredit card, to pay 5000 USD for a flat screen television. Consumer 30may receive a notification of the transaction on mobile device 36. Whenconsumer 30 wishes to sort the alert messages (or offer messages) by acertain criteria, consumer 30 may do so by entering sorting criteria asshown in steps 210 and 220 on mobile device 36.

The sorting criteria may be entered into the mobile device 36 before orafter alert and offer messages are received by the mobile device 36. Inthe former case, alert messages and/or offer messages may be sortedautomatically upon receipt of such messages, thus making it easier forthe consumer 30.

The sorting criteria of step 210 may include sorting by transactiontype, transaction amount, issuer, type of card, and the date the alertmessages were received on the mobile device. General payment transactionalerts may be configurable by a transaction threshold amount defined byconsumer 30. Further, the general payment transaction alert thresholdmay be configurable by currency type. Mail-order, telephone-order, andcross-border transaction alerts, as well, may be configurable by atransaction threshold amount defined by consumer 30.

It is desirable to sort alert messages by transaction type, transactionamount, issuer, type of card, and the date the alert messages werereceived on the mobile device. Sorting by transaction type is desirable,in case the consumer 30 wants to know how much he is spending inparticular spending categories such as gas, food, and travel. Sorting byissuer is also desirable. In some cases, the consumer 30 may havemultiple payment cards, or multiple payment instances or applicationsfrom multiple issuers residing on a single mobile device. The consumer30 may wish to know how much is being spent using the various accountsassociated with the cards, instances, or applications associated withthe different issuers, because the consumer 30 may have differentrewards or other benefits associated with the different cards,instances, or applications. This advantage can also be present whensorting by type of card. Lastly, sorting by date (e.g., when atransaction is conducted) is also desirable. For example, in some cases,alerts may be received at times that are different from whentransactions are actually conducted (e.g., due to delays in the system).In such cases, sorting can be done by transaction date so that the userknows his purchase history according to time.

Note that any of the above sorting criteria may be combined in anysuitable manner in embodiments of the invention. For example, theconsumer 30 may sort by issuer first, and then may sort by merchant, andthen by dollar amount, in some instances. Thus, multiple levels ofsorting can occur in embodiments of the invention.

The sorting criteria of step 220 may include sorting by a date the offermessages were received, a date the offer messages expire, the merchant,the offer messages which are still active, the offer messages which haveexpired, and the offer messages which have been redeemed.

In steps 230 and 240, alert and offer messages are received by mobiledevice 36. Consumer 30 is typically able to access these alert and offermessages by selecting either option (indicator) on the graphical userinterface of mobile device display 400 as shown in FIG. 5, which shows ascreen shot on mobile device display 400 for viewing alerts or offers.For example, if consumer 30 selects the “alerts” option (indicator) onmobile device display 400, various alert messages may appear, asdisplayed in mobile device display 500 shown in FIG. 6, which shows ascreen shot on mobile device display 500 illustrating alerts. The visualdepiction of certain messages may reflect certain events (such as offersset to expire). Consumer 30 may have the option of selecting an alertmessage displayed on mobile device display 500 to view more detailedinformation regarding the alert. Mobile device display 600 of FIG. 7,which is another screen shot on a mobile device display illustratingalert messages, shows a detailed alert.

As mentioned above, consumer 30 is typically able to access alert andoffer messages by selecting either option on the graphical userinterface of mobile device display 400 as shown in FIG. 5. According toan embodiment of the invention, full alert and offer messages may not beviewable by consumer 30 unless selecting either option (indicator) onmobile device display 400. Alert and offer flags (condensed alertmessages), however, containing high level information that an alert hasbeen triggered and which type of alert has been triggered, may beviewable by the mobile device 36 even if consumer 30 has not activatedthe application for viewing alert or offer messages as shown in FIG. 5.The alert flag may be sent as a SMS message and stored in mobiledevice's 36 SMS inbox or the like and may be received by mobile device36 even though graphical user interface of mobile device display 400 isnot open. The alert flag (and full alert and offer messages for thatmatter) may not disrupt any activity by consumer 30 or any otherapplication that is running on mobile device 36 and may be deleted byconsumer 30.

Consumer 30 may opt to receive a visual display or audio signal onmobile device 36 when alert or offer messages (or flags) are received.For example, consumer 30 may receive audio warnings associated withreceipt of the messages such as a single “beep” or “chime”, a “swoosh”sound, or a single “oink” (like a pig) through an audio device (e.g., aspeaker) in the mobile device, and may be able to select particularevents that may trigger such warnings. Consumer 30 may be able to setthe audio at “silence” and/or “vibrate”.

Mobile device 36 may only have a certain capacity in terms of storingalert and offer messages. Mobile device 36 may inform consumer 30 whenany part of the memory threshold has been met and consumer 30 may beinformed that new alert or offer messages may not be received unlessconsumer 30 deletes some alert or offer messages on mobile device 36. Inan alternative embodiment, mobile device 36 may continue to receivemessages even when the threshold is met by deleting the oldest messagesfirst to make space for the new ones. When alert or offer messagescannot be sent to the mobile device 36 due to data storage information,the messages may be cached and forwarded once there is sufficient datastorage. As mentioned above, consumer 30 may set a limit on the totalnumber of alert or offer messages that he may receive.

In another embodiment of the invention, the alert and offer messages maynot immediately appear after selecting such option on mobile devicedisplay 400. Consumer 30 may be directed to another page first, beforethe alert and offer messages are displayed. For example, upon selecting“offers” on mobile device display 400, consumer 30 may be directed to apage that shows the various merchants participating in the offersprogram, as shown on mobile device display 900 in FIG. 10. This mayoccur if user has not yet enrolled in the service to receive alert andoffer messages or has not entered relevant card information.

In another embodiment of the invention, the offers are initially storedin offer module 26(a)-4. An example of an offer is shown in FIG. 13,which shows a screen shot on mobile device display 1200 illustrating anoffer. The offers include various information such as merchant name andlocation (if available), merchant logo, a date the offer was received, adate the offer will become active, a date the offer will expire, thetype of offer (e.g., food/drink, apparel, books, computers,entertainment), qualification status, information regarding offerdetails, and terms and conditions associated with the offer. Further,the offer messages may include a link to a locator map that displayslocations associated with the specific offer when applicable, a link toa URL for the offer when applicable, and an option to forward the offervia a SMS (“tell a friend”). An alert message indicating that consumer30 has conducted a qualified transaction to receive an offer may be sentto consumer 30 conveying such information.

Consumer 30 may select various other actions to be performed on an alertor offer message after receiving the message. Actions to be performed ona message may include one or more of the following: set fraud risk,disable card, dispute transaction, provide more information about themessage, claim a transaction, send a message to a group about themessage, forward the message, launch a browser or the like uponselecting/touching the message, and redeem via alphanumeric code or barcode.

Referring to FIG. 4, after they are received, the offers and alerts canbe automatically sorted using the previously entered sorting criteriaand can be viewed by consumer 30. In steps 250 and 270, the alert andoffer messages may be sorted according to user criteria viaalert/sorting module 38 or the like. The alert and offer messages may besorted by the various criteria mentioned above. In regards to alertmessages, consumer 30 may be prompted to select from various criteria asshown in mobile device display 700 in FIG. 8, which shows a screen shoton mobile device display 700 for sorting alerts. If consumer 30, forexample, wishes to sort alert messages by card, the consumer may beprompted to select a card as shown in FIG. 9, which shows another screenshot on mobile device display 800 for sorting alerts. Consumer 30 mayselect from various cards that have been enrolled in the service and thealert messages will be sorted according this criteria.

In regards to offer messages, consumer 30 may be prompted to select fromvarious criteria to sort offer messages by as shown in mobile devicedisplay 1000 in FIG. 11, which shows a screen shot on mobile devicedisplay 1000 for sorting offer messages. The consumer 30 may, forexample, opt to sort offer messages by merchant. After consumer 30selects the appropriate criteria, a list of offer messages sorted bymerchant (or in this case one particular merchant) may be displayed asshown in FIG. 12, which shows a screen shot on mobile device display1100 illustrating offer messages according to an embodiment of theinvention. Consumer 30 may select an offer message as shown in FIG. 12to launch a more detailed offer message as shown in FIG. 13.

It is desirable to sort offers by criteria such as merchant, offer type,offer value, and geographic location, as this helps the consumer locateoffers more quickly. For example, if the consumer is at a shoppingcenter in downtown Los Angeles and is interested in buying high endshoes, the sorting criteria can sort the offers so that only offers forhigh end shoes by merchants in downtown Los Angeles are displayed.

In steps 260 and 280, the sorted alert and offer messages are displayedon a display in the mobile device 36 and are viewed by the consumer 30.As mentioned above, the sorted alert and offer messages may be displayedon mobile device displays in any suitable form. For example, they may bedisplayed on mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and thelike. Consumer 30 may select one or more received messages and an actionmay be applied to the selected messages.

FIG. 14 shows subsystems or components that can be present in a computerapparatus. The various participants and elements in FIG. 1 may operateone or more computer apparatuses (e.g., a server computer) to facilitatethe functions described herein. Any of the elements in FIG. 1 may useany suitable number of subsystems to facilitate the functions describedherein. Examples of such subsystems or components are shown in FIG. 14.The subsystems shown in FIG. 14 are interconnected via a system bus 775.Additional subsystems such as a printer 774, keyboard 778, fixed disk779 (or other memory comprising computer readable media), monitor 776,which is coupled to display adapter 782, and others are shown.Peripherals and input/output (I/O) devices, which couple to I/Ocontroller 771, can be connected to the computer system by any number ofmeans known in the art, such as serial port 777. For example, serialport 777 or external interface 781 can be used to connect the computerapparatus to a wide area network such as the Internet, a mouse inputdevice, or a scanner. The interconnection via system bus allows thecentral processor 773 to communicate with each subsystem and to controlthe execution of instructions from system memory 772 or the fixed disk779, as well as the exchange of information between subsystems. Thesystem memory 772 and/or the fixed disk 779 may embody a computerreadable medium.

Embodiments of the invention have a number of advantages. As notedabove, offers and alerts can be filtered and/or sorted on a mobiledevice display, so that they are more easily managed by a user. In somecases, providing a mobile device with the ability to sort alerts makesit less likely that the consumer will forget to use an offer and/or willquickly find an offer that is relevant to his current situation orgeographic location. Embodiments of the invention also make it morelikely that the consumer will be able to keep transaction alert messagesfor later record keeping.

Any of the software components or functions described in thisapplication, may be implemented as software code to be executed by aprocessor using any suitable computer language such as, for example,Java, C++ or Perl using, for example, conventional or object-orientedtechniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructions,or commands on a computer readable medium, such as a random accessmemory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as ahard-drive or a floppy disk, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Anysuch computer readable medium may reside on or within a singlecomputational apparatus, and may be present on or within differentcomputational apparatuses within a system or network.

The above description is illustrative and is not restrictive. Manyvariations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should,therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description,but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claimsalong with their full scope or equivalents.

One or more features from any embodiment may be combined with one ormore features of any other embodiment without departing from the scopeof the invention.

A recitation of “a”, “an” or “the” is intended to mean “one or more”unless specifically indicated to the contrary.

It should be understood that the present invention as described abovecan be implemented in the form of control logic using computer softwarein a modular or integrated manner. Based on the disclosure and teachingsprovided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will know andappreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the present inventionusing hardware and a combination of hardware and software.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine-readable non-transitory mediumembodying information indicative of instructions for causing one or moremachines to perform operations comprising: receiving automatic sortingcriteria from a user associated with a mobile device; receiving alertmessages, wherein each alert message includes a transaction amountassociated with a transaction conducted with a merchant; automaticallysorting the alert messages by transaction amount based on the automaticsorting criteria, the sorting performed automatically upon receipt ofone or more of the alert messages; and displaying the sorted alertmessages.
 2. The medium of claim 1 wherein the automatic sortingcriteria received from the user include a transaction threshold amount.3. The medium of claim 1 having instructions further comprising: sortingthe alert messages by transaction type; and determining how much hasbeen spent in one or more spending categories based on the alertmessages sorted by transaction type.
 4. The medium of claim 1 havinginstructions further comprising: sorting the alert messages by issuer;and determining how much has been spent on one or more cards, instances,or applications associated with issuers based on the alert messagessorted by issuer.
 5. The medium of claim 1 having instructions furthercomprising: automatically sorting the alert messages by one or more of atransaction type, a transaction date, a location, a city, a state, acurrency code, a merchant, an issuer, and a type of card.
 6. The mediumof claim 1 wherein the sorting criteria comprise one or more of atransaction amount, a transaction date, a location, a city, a state, acurrency code, a merchant, an issuer, a type of card, and a date thealert messages were received.
 7. The medium of claim 1 havinginstructions further comprising: obtaining an additional alert message;and automatically deleting one or more of the received alert messagesupon obtaining the additional alert message.
 8. The medium of claim 1having instructions further comprising: caching one or more of the alertmessages, the caching based on data storage information of the mobiledevice; and forwarding the one or more cached alert messages to themobile device upon there being sufficient data storage on the mobiledevice.
 9. The medium of claim 1 having instructions further comprising:receiving offer sorting criteria from a user associated with the mobiledevice; receiving offer messages, wherein each offer message containsoffer data; automatically sorting the offer messages according to thereceived offer sorting criteria; and displaying the sorted offermessages.
 10. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the offer sortingcriteria include a date that the offer messages expire.
 11. A methodcomprising: receiving automatic sorting criteria from a user associatedwith a mobile device; receiving alert messages, wherein each alertmessage includes a transaction amount associated with a transactionconducted with a merchant; automatically sorting, using at least oneprocessor operatively connected with a memory, the alert messages bytransaction amount based on the automatic sorting criteria, the sortingperformed automatically upon receipt of one or more of the alertmessages; and displaying the sorted alert messages.
 12. The method ofclaim 11 wherein the automatic sorting criteria received from the userinclude a transaction threshold amount.
 13. The method of claim 11further comprising: sorting the alert messages by transaction type; anddetermining how much has been spent in one or more spending categoriesbased on the alert messages sorted by transaction type.
 14. The methodof claim 11 further comprising: sorting the alert messages by issuer;and determining how much has been spent on one or more cards, instances,or applications associated with issuers based on the alert messagessorted by issuer.
 15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:obtaining an additional alert message; and automatically deleting one ormore of the received alert messages upon obtaining the additional alertmessage.
 16. A computer system comprising: at least one processor; and amemory operatively coupled with the at least one processor, theprocessor executing from the memory: program code for receivingautomatic sorting criteria from a user associated with a mobile device;program code for receiving alert messages, wherein each alert messageincludes a transaction amount associated with a transaction conductedwith a merchant; program code for automatically sorting, using at leastone processor operatively connected with a memory, the alert messages bytransaction amount based on the automatic sorting criteria, the sortingperformed automatically upon receipt of one or more of the alertmessages; and program code for displaying the sorted alert messages. 17.The system of claim 16 wherein the automatic sorting criteria receivedfrom the user include a transaction threshold amount.
 18. The system ofclaim 16 further comprising: program code for sorting the alert messagesby transaction type; and program code for determining how much has beenspent in one or more spending categories based on the alert messagessorted by transaction type.
 19. The system of claim 16 furthercomprising: program code for sorting the alert messages by issuer; andprogram code for determining how much has been spent on one or morecards, instances, or applications associated with issuers based on thealert messages sorted by issuer.
 20. The system of claim 16 furthercomprising: program code for obtaining an additional alert message; andprogram code for automatically deleting one or more of the receivedalert messages upon obtaining the additional alert message.